Saturday, June 18, 2016

Myth of SRDP - Reduction of CO2

The
proposed
Strategic Road Development Project (SRDP) around KBR Park at an
exorbitant cost, is being justified by guestimated reduction of CO2
Emissions. According to the Study, reported to have been conducted by
concerned Authorities regarding Road Transportation system in
Hyderabad City, around 2.5 lakh vehicles are reported to be at the
Jubilee Hills Check Post Junction per day, emitting around 107.92
Tonnes of CO2. The Study also reported to have estimated that number
of Vehicles is likely to go up to 5.5 Lakhs by 2035 emitting around
456.19 Tonnes of CO2.

Based
on the Study, the authenticity of which is not known, State Govt. is
reported to have planned construction of Flyovers / Sky-Ways at 6
junctions around KBR Park, with the object of limiting CO2 emissions
to 121.01 Tonnes of CO2 by 2035, apart from easing traffic bottle
necks. It is also claimed to save 40.59 Crore Ltrs of Fuel by
providing Signal-Free Traffic, during the next 20 years

SRDP
is Supply Side Management

The
Flyovers/SRDP are only “Supply Side Management” of the Traffic,
which will have snowball effect on traffic problems / air Pollution.
The benefits will not be commensurate with the expenditure
/environmental impact involved. As it has proved to be in Hyderabad
and Delhi, with building of flyovers /sky-ways by sacrificing the
green cover, more and more vehicles are added contributing to more
traffic congestion / problems and more air pollution.

The
reduced use of public transportation
proves that addition in road space is quickly occupied by the
increasing vehicular growth and induced travel behaviour In
a time when it is extremely easy to own a car. SRDP may prove to be
an expensive short term relief , if any.

We
Need Demand Side Management

What
we need is “Transport Demand Side Management”, so as to suppress
volume of Vehicular Traffic on the roads by providing an efficient
Mass Transport System and scientific Urban Planning & Development
to suppress intra-city commuting. As
highlighted in the Vision Document for “Car Free Thursday
Initiative” prepared by “Gear Change”, the problem of traffic
congestion is not unique to Hyderabad or just India.

In
the later part of
the 20th century, Cities attempted addressing this by widening roads
and building flyovers. However, they soon realized the effect of
“induced demand”. Researchers have found a one-to-one
relationship between road capacity and amount of traffic, which means
that a 20% addition to roads results in a corresponding increase of
20% or more in traffic.

Way
Out

As
suggested in Vision Document of “Gear Change” certain strategies
are to be adopted for “Travel Demand Management”(TDM), by
encouraging individuals to alter their Travel Behaviour. Some of them
are:

a)
“High Parking Fee” representing the value of land occupied will
bring down the number of vehicles in use. Case studies of London,
Mumbai.

c)
Re Purposing Road Space is another strategy to bring down congestion.
New York City has implemented multiple road re purposing
solutions including converting an 8 lane road into just 3 lanes for
cars. Indore BRTS Bus.

All
these measures involve No / Low Cost, with Short gestation& High
Impact.

Technological
Innovations

Before
investing huge sums in developing massive infrastructure, we should
take into account the technological advances in the offing. Within
next 10 years or so, we may not need
to own a Car, as it can be called on Phone to any location and
driven to the destination. It will change the Cities, because we will
need less cars and less parking space. We can transform former
parking spaces into Parks.
Auto mobile Pollution may go into history with introduction of
Electric Cars (Tesla).

Kodak,
which had 170,000 employees and sold 85% of all photo paper worldwide
in 1998, got bankrupt and disappeared within just a few years. Did
we think in 1998 that 3 years later, we would never take pictures on
paper film again?

Can
we think and plan Traffic Infrastructure required in 2035, taking
into account the likely technological advances ?

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About Me

Born in 1929, graduated in Electrical Engineering from College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai (Madras), India in 1952. Joined Indian Navy in 1953, awarded Visista Seva Medal (VSM) and prematurely retired in 1975, in the Rank of Captain.
After retirement engaged in Industrial activities for about 20 years.Since 1995, engaged in Social and Community activities highlighting the adverse social and environmental impacts of Development Activities being undertaken without proper appraisal evaluation and assessment. Also associated with propagation of Sustainable Development and Resource Conservation.